IT WAS A VERY PROUD DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD and everyone came out in their true colors, including the local pets – like Spencer, this jolly little pooch in the handsome cravat ….. … and these visiting youngsters in their rainbow shawls brightening up the usually low key scene in Abingdon Square. ….Not to mention
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Bleecker Flower Shop
By Salvador V. Bleecker Flower Shop opened in March 2019 as a flower studio located on Bleecker Street in the West Village in Manhattan. It was founded by two Spanish friends, Valeria Castillejo and Bebes Ferrer, who bonded over a passion for flowers, nature and artisan work. When Valeria was looking for an apartment they
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Envisioning Its Future: Challenges for the Country’s Only Music School for the Blind
Interview with Dr. Leslie Jones, executive director of The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School (fmdgmusicschool.org) By Barbara Chacour SURPRISING HISTORY: The New York Lighthouse for the Blind was started in 1905 by sisters Edith and Winifred Holt (of the Holt publishing family), who had been inspired by a group of blind schoolchildren’s enthusiastic attendance
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The Psychology of Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Victims of the Holocaust
By Leila Amin Attempting to explain human behavior during an event as unfathomable as the Holocaust can seem like an impossible task. However, although a nation of bystanders was crucial to its implementation, so too was an army of active perpetrators, each of whom had to undergo a transformation of their own in order to
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50th Anniversary of Stonewall: Remembered through Dramatic Work
By Celeste Kaufman Phoenix Lindsey-Hall, a ceramicist, photographer, and mixed media artist, has a story to tell; and what better time to share her story than during the celebration of the Stonewall uprising? She explores themes related to queer communities, and the violence perpetrated against them. Originally focusing on photography, earning degrees from Parsons School
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Rocketman Launches Taron Egerton into Stardom
By Raphael Carty Rocketman is an audacious reimagining of Elton John’s life as a musical set to the Elton John/Bernie Taupin songbook, with touches of whimsy and surrealism creating a fantastically entertaining film. Beneath the stardust and sequins is a darker story than I had gleaned from the headlines over the years. From his parents
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Robert Heide At The Newark Museum
By John Gilman WestView News writer Robert Heide will be featured on a panel about Pop Art at the Newark Museum in downtown Newark on Saturday, July 13 at 2 PM. The Museum, at 49 Washington Street, is a few short blocks from Newark’s historic Penn Station—best way for Greenwich Villagers to get there is
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Whither the Village?
By Senior Minister at Judson Church The Village can’t be what it used to be any more. Been there, done that. It may be that the times have changed. Since 9-11, most people are more concerned about safety than we are about freedom. We even say good-bye with the words “Be Safe,” as though safe
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Mermaid Parade Splashes Up Coney Island’s Surf Avenue
By Karen Rempel Summer began with a splash on Saturday, June 22 with Coney Island’s 37th annual Mermaid Parade. Mermaids, Neptunes, merkids, and merdogs paraded in sea-deep splendor to a crowd of over 840,000 people. The parade ended with Coney Island-born King Neptune, Arlo Guthrie, and Queen Mermaid, Nora Guthrie, together with the self-designated mayor
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King Leer and the Sausage
By James Lincoln Collier King Leer was meeting with his cabinet. They were all there—Rumpelstiltskin, the Mock Turtle, Hansel and Gretel, and the King’s spokesperson, Huckleberry Sausage, a chubby woman wearing an elegant string of pearls. The King spoke. “What are we going to do about the Wicked Witch of the West Coast?” Rumpelstiltskin grimaced.
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The Village’s Own Gem of a Festival—The 13th Annual Manhattan Film Festival at Historic Cinema Village Theater
Villagers attend one of “The coolest film festivals in the World” as ranked by Movie-Maker Magazine The Manhattan Film Festival (MFF) recently completed its 13th year. The festival is rated by Movie-Maker Magazine as one of “25 film festivals worth the entry fee.” The MFF has been located at that historic gem of Independent filmmaking,
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Pat Lasch: Artist and Seven Generations in the West Village!
By Melinda Photis My mother, Pat Lasch, has the distinction of having had her artwork lost or discarded by the Museum of Modern Art in New York two years ago—not one of MoMA’s high points! But that’s only a small part of her history. My mom was born in Gotham Hospital on 5th Avenue. My
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The Kate Smith “God Bless America” Controversy
By Robert Heide Before every performance at the legendary Caffe Cino coffee house theatre on Cornelia Street, Joe Cino, the proprietor and guiding light for the plays presented there, would step forward under a spotlight, sometimes wrapped in an American flag, and introduce the play as it was about to start. Over the sound system
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A Fifties State of Mind
By Barbara Riddle John Cassavetes, the Stonewall Inn and the end of the Cold War are all connected in my mind by two words. Two words that describe what we badly need during these politically insane times: resistance and hope; hope and resistance. My thoughts were triggered during a book reading/signing I recently attended, a
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Not Your Grandmother’s Square Dancing
By Kian Lam Kho It is a cool beautiful spring evening in the Village and the main door of P.S. 3 on Hudson Street is slightly ajar. You can hear music wafting through the gap and recognize Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon. But over the music a firm sing-song voice is calling
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Stonewall Uprising, 1969: A 50-Year Celebration
By Robert Heide and John Gilman Yes, we were there the night of June 28th, 1969, and all the rest of those famous nights whose impact has been felt around the world. This year’s annual Gay Pride Parade will celebrate the 50th anniversary of that date, and is expected to be attended by a record
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Suzanne Poli Classic Photo
On a hot June Pride day in 2005, Suzanne Poli captured this infamous roller-skating pair, renowned for their dramatic and colorful flair, posing with their favorite companion. Miss Columbia (l.), the beloved drag queen from Queens died last October and was widely mourned and celebrated. Her swirling antics, as well as Rollerina’s, became part of the fabric of the annual half-century Pride March
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The Whitney Museum Opens its 2019 Biennial Exhibition
By Martica Sawin Two years have gone by and the Whitney Biennial is here again on Gansevoort Street and will be with us until September 22. This is fortunate because, although it is not overwhelming in size or clamorous in appearance, it is a sobering, thought-provoking show that requires time to listen to and absorb
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Parsons School of Design Runway Show Ornamented Fifth Avenue
By Karen Rempel | Fashion Editor As part of the New School’s graduation festivities at the end of May, the Parsons School of Design held the first-ever street runway show in Parsons history. The event on 5th Avenue and 13th Street featured more than 250 unique looks by Parsons fashion grads. It was a spell-binding
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Let Us Now Praise Judson Church
By Jane Heil Usyk Judson Memorial Church, a mainstay on Washington Square South, has been on the right side of hundreds of causes since the nineteenth century. Among its precepts is the idea that artists will lead the way in establishing ideals. This is an ancient idea, from classical times; but who today even thinks of it,
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Saving Broadway and Hollywood in The Village
By John Bredin In our 2011 film The Rebirth of Cinema, my wife and I symbolized Hollywood with the image of a dead, rotting tree that was decaying into the ground. The site we chose was the top of the New Jersey Palisades in Fort Lee, where the movie industry was born a little over
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100 Years of Non-Solitude and Creativity
by J. Taylor Basker Friends, family and fellow creatives celebrated Edith Stephen’s 100th year birthday in Westbeth Artists Housing in Greenwich Village with two parties: one private, for family and close friends in her studio; and the other for the public in the Westbeth Community Room, for fans and neighbors, that included a puppet show
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Five Milestones of Technology That Made Us What We Are Today
By Josef Eisinger© After musing in these pages about the evolution of life on Earth (WestView News, Feb. 2019) and about the rapid pace of technological innovations (WestView News, Jan. 2018), I propose to select in this article five technological landmarks that arguably had the greatest influence on human behavior in their wake. This is,
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Style on the Street: Men in Suits
As the thermostat inches up, the coats come off and men display their sartorial elegance in suits both retro and up-to-the-minute. Text and photos by Karen Rempel.
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Edon Manor Brings Joy Through Shoes
By Karen Rempel Edon Manor is the new refined and ultra-hip babe on the block, with luxury shoes for the most artrageous among us, offered up with a cool vibe. Pink suede couches rim the room and pink hydrangeas adorn the ceiling, with fresh flowers and art books accenting shoes that are truly works of
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Karen’s Quirky Style
By Karen Rempel For me, having fun with fashion is about finding pieces I love at the most unexpected moments, and then combining them with old favorites to come up with an entirely new, unique look. I call this “Karen’s Quirky Style” because you won’t find these ensembles in Vogue, they don’t cost a mint,
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White-Soled Shoes
By Gordon Hughes Now that it’s warming up I’ve been able to sit outdoors on one of the benches at Cafe Panino Mucho Gusto. While sipping a cup of joe the other morning, I was overwhelmed by the number of sneakers with white soles passing by. What is up with this ubiquitous trend? It is
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Save the Date for Renegade Dreamers
By John Gilman 58 years ago Bob Dylan wandered into the precincts of Greenwich Village and almost immediately sparked a major resurgence in folk music in coffeehouses and musical hotspots like Gerde’s Folk City and the Cafe Wha on MacDougal Street. A new film by Karen Kramer entitled Renegade Dreamers chronicles the activities of young
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Burn This Returns to Broadway
By Robert Heide The new Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson’s play Burn This, which was originally produced in 1987 also on the Great White Way, opened April 16 at the Hudson Theatre at 141 West 44th Street for a 17 week run. Back then it was Wilson’s first play to open on Broadway and it
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Artists at Westbeth Show Exhibit a Variety of Concerns
By Jane Heil Usyk There was an event at the end of March at the Westbeth Gallery on Bethune and West streets. It was the opening of a five-woman art show called “Worlds Seen and Unseen,” which spanned all four rooms of the large gallery. There were five distinct and very different styles of painting.
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George Meets Stanley Kubrick in the Village
By Roger Paradiso On a cool spring day we were sitting around the round table in George’s house on Charles Street. George was sick with a very bad cold. He heard our voices and made his way out of his bedroom sniffling, coughing, and looking a little green. But once I began talking about movies
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The Future of Our Fields
By Lara S. Mullarkey The sun broke through on the morning of Saturday, April 6 just in time to shine on Greenwich Village Little League’s Opening Day. Hundreds of families flooded Pier 40, along with a roster of local politicians including Deborah Glick, Brad Hoylman, Corey Johnson, Brian Kavanagh, Scott Stringer, and Madelyn Wils (president
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The View From the Kitchen
By Isa Covo This month my intention was to write about iconic American songstresses. The idea came to me as I was listening to Billy Holiday, and then the fire at Notre Dame de Paris happened. From the time I heard the news, I was glued to the television and saw the spire fall, the
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My Time at The New School—1958
By Les Plosia If The New School is anything like it used to be, count me a big fan. Then in my upper 20s, I would tool south in my MG convertible on the West Side Highway two evenings a week from my junior editing job at Prentice-Hall publishing house on the New Jersey side
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Israel-Palestine
Dear editors: Hate has no place here. An article on Israel-Palestine in the April issue is a political diatribe one expects from the alt-right or alt-left media, not WestView News. I get the writer’s blog almost daily, and know that is her prejudice, and I might feel sorry for whatever happened to turn her to
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Five Cosmopolitan Artists at Westbeth Gallery in April
By Jane Heil Usyk “Worlds Seen and Unseen” is the name of this show featuring five well-traveled women who have been practicing their art for many years. It opens Friday, March 29th, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and will run from March 29th through April 20th, 2019. The hours of operation are 12:00 p.m. to 6:00
